Governor with adjusting mechanism



March 6, 1951 w, PHELPS ETAL 2,544,352

GOVERNOR WITH ADJUSTING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 8, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTURS R.\/V PHELPS U L .T.R L|TLEDGE March 6, 1951 R. w. PHELPS ET AL GOVERNOR WITH ADJUSTING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 8, 1945 ATTY E urine-t nants t Patented Mar. 6, 1951 TED STATES PATENT 0 FF I CE asr'rgasz GOVEBNORWITH. ADJ US'llNG MECHANISM Ross W." Phelps', 'Orillia, Ontario, and Lewis T. Rutledge; 'Kingston, Ontario; Ganada'; {said Rutledge assignor: to said-Phelps Application Eebruary 8, 1945, Serial N o. 576,890

1 Claim. (cums) "Ifhis inventionrelates to. an improvement. in

internal combustion engines .used as stationary prime movers or..of engines in automotive ma,- tzhineryincluding engines in farm tractors and other similar machinery.

Amainmobject-of this invention is to provide a governor of the centrifugal type which is par.- tic-ularly eilicient in itsoperation and approaches more closely than heretofore theveharacteristics .of the ideal governor.

. The idealgovernor is .one that. is .isochronous without any hunting action, and which is .ex- 7 ,tremely sensitive, at the same time having the correctstability. "By isochronism is meantthat the speed of -the;governor willnot vary during the entire range of travel offits actuatingsleeve, ,or

mother words, thevvalve controlling the full ad- "mission may belmoved into any position toxsuit the engine load and ;-yet the engine and also the governor will always runaat the same speed. By

ffisensitiveness .ismeant the proportional change of speed which occurs .while .the. sleeve goes through its complete. travel, the governor most sensitive being thatvvhich .has the least variation. Mathematically the sensitivene s is .the ratio found by dividing an infinitesimal increment of the angular velocity by the average angular velocity. The smaller .this ratio, the more sensitive is the governor. For the isochronous governor the infinitesimal variationof the angular velocity is zero, orfi is zero where w iS the'angular velocity in radius. per second using the nomenclatureof .thedifierential calculus. I

Many years ago-it wasniseovered that a perfect isochronous go e nor "can" .b ob ed if the governor ballsmove on a .curvedtrack of parabelie o so th they wil a wa ,re e nien the sur ia e ebb oide r volut on o i h t e spindl of th gev rne i the Th s "severnor when soicon'str ucted had the serious defect {th t t was ts a t o un t b e and "had Th d fin te positio o iven-sp ed and t us the slightest disturbing force caused thei governor alls to m re t .on endle he oth r o t ei me nse .thatih g e n r hun d Q am t en o stabl e u briumnether object' ofth rno'r that is a p'ihnntz us e -obj ct o t in e t on is t ride. v rno -m kin us i Ma ine an c trol-so, that different constant speeds withinza e inveniieni 9 p ovide s jperfee y ,iS bhiQhW -motion .of the whole spring body about its lower end as a fulcrum, the spring swinging through an are following the motion of the governor lever to which the upper end of the spring is attached. The second movement is an extension or contraction under varying stress and strain to balance the centrifugal forces of the revolving governor weights under varying conditions of loading. Itshould be noted under this invention that the l a t e tensio f he rin ac m an the conditions of niaximum load on the engine.

A'iu h r ob e f t nv t o istep vid means edius ing t e p e ee s f h spring and the length of the link connecting the overnor lever to the butterfly valve to suit any desired enginespeed. This adjustment may be made either at the governor or by remote control through a suitable mechanical linkage which is co m to au omo e machi Another object of the invention is to provide a governor with'iew moving parts and a means of imparting a motion of translation alongthe governor shaft to a compound sleeve so designed that it constitutes a thrust ball bearing. The transfer of motion is so arranged that the part of thecompound sleeve in'control with the governorweights has .a motion of rotation as its principal motion but also translation when the sleeve moves axially. The third element in the compound sleeve has only the motion of translation common to the first element as its principal motion. The two sleeve elements are connected by a ball bearing adapter, all of which provides a unit of minimum friction. Thus a lfurther object of the invention is to provide a sliding sleeve with no eccentricity of motion. The assembly is perfectly balanced transversely and'ja'ccordingly" there is no tendency toward a bindingiactionbetween the sleeve and the shaft. Also "the invention'p'rovides that the eiiect of gravity is zero-since the {governor weights revolve in a vertical plane.

V "d'ifurther object of our invention is to provide a governorsmall 'inlinear dimensions and cub c content so that it'may be easily fitted to any enlg'in'e on which it maybe used.

nn eam n-a1 object or the design is to provide means ofreducingthe friction to a minimum by the use of anti-friction bearings and also by the 3 use of splash lubrication over all moving parts within the overnor housing.

A still further object of the design and one new to governors is to provide a governor action that functions, at the starting of the engine, as an automatic choke so that the throttle valve will be open full at the start but as the engine gains speed the valve will be gradually closed to the closure for the idling speed.

With these and other objects in view the invention generally embodies a governor mechanism including governor weights actuating mechanism controlled thereby including a lever and a resisting spring restraining the normal movement of the lever, the said spring being ,so

related to the lever as to act sensitively and permit operation of the governor in a substantially isochronous manner and without hunting action.

The invention will be clearly understood by reference to the following detailed specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Referring tothe drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a governor according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken through the casing of the governor to illustrate the combination and arrangement of certain of the parts thereof.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the governor shaft, the governor weights and assembly actuated thereby.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 isa side elevation similar to Fig. 3 but showing the governor weights moved outwardly and shifting the actuating assembly on the shaft.

Fig. 6 is a detailed side elevation of a fork construction operating between the actuating as sembly on the governor shaft and the lever actuated by the governor.

Referring to the several drawings, it will b apparent in our invention that we use a governor casing and an end cap 2, the two being held together in good alignment on a spigoted joint 3 with cap screws 4. The end cap 2 has cast integral with it a projection 5 with tapped holes for fastening to the body of the engine. The spacing of the cap screws admit of the cap being turned at right angles for convenience in fastening to the engine. The governor casing and the end cap 2 constitute the frame of the governor. The closed end of the casing is fitted with a bronze bearing sleeve 6 and thrust disc I while the end cap is fitted with a radial thrust ball bearing 8. Mounted on the central longitudinal axis of the casing and end housing is a polished governor shaft 9 which extends beyond the end housing to carry a driving pulley III, or a gear, if such be used instead of a V-pulley. Leakage of lubricant around the shaft is prevented by suitable packing A governor weight support I2 is pinned securely to the shaft 9 by the pin l3 and the-two similar governor weights l4 are carried by arms l5 which are fastened to the support l2 by two pins IS. The said pins l6 are a tight fit in part |2 but an easy fit in the two reamed and smoothly finished hole I! in each arm l5 to produce a fit giving free motion with a minimum of friction.

The locking wire loops or split cotter pins 19 may be employed to retain the arms l5 on the pins l6 to retain the governor weights in central position relative to the governor weight support. Each of the arms l5 are provided with project- I 4 ing fingers 20, the ends of which are chamfered or otherwise tapered to provide actuating fingers designed to engage a sliding actuating assembly carried on shaft 9 and preferably made up of several elements. The fingers 20 are designed to engage the end of the slidable sleeve 2| forming part of the assembly and slidably mounted on the shaft 9., The construction presupposes no relative motion between the governor weights and the sleeve 2|. However, as the governor weights move out or in, radially, as the shaft 9 rotates, the sleeve 2| has a rotational movement and moves axially along the shaft.

As the weights l4 move outwardly upon rotation of the shaft 9 the fingers 20 cause sleeve 2| to move along the shaft which motion is transferred to the thrust plate 22 through the medium of the ball bearings 23. The facing surface of the thrust plate and the adjacent end of the sleeve 2| are provided with suitable grooves to accommodate the ballbearings 23, the sleeve 2|.,thrust plate 22 and ball bearings 23, being hardened and ground so that the assembly pal-takes of the nature of a regular thrust ball bearing which has an easy sliding engagement with the polished shaft 9 so that friction under the conditions for instance of splash lubrication, is negligible. The motion of sleeve 2| during operation is continuously a motion'of rotation with intermittent motions of translation, while the motion of thrust plate 22 isprimarily an intermittent motion of translation. This motion of translation is transmitted to a fork member 24 which in effect straddles the "shaft 9 and is disposed to be engaged by the thrust plate 22. The fork 24 is rigidly pinned to the cros shaft 25 such as by .the pins 2B. The cross shaft 25 is freely journalled in the casing to turn when torque is applied to it such as by the thrust plate 22. At its outer end, exteriorly of the casing it rigidly carries the lever 21 which is.connected thereto so that the proper angular relationship of lever 21 relative to the fork 24 and the. shaft 25 is provided.

The resistance to the centrifugal force of the revolving governor weights I4, as transferred through the fork 24 to the shaft 25,. is provided by a helical tension spring 28 fastened at its up; per end to the lever 21 and at its lower end to an adjustable anchorage 29, such as the spring holder pin 30 assembled with the adjusting screw 3|. The screw 3| is formed with a continuous bore 3 la and its head is provided with an enlarged recess 3|b to receive the head 30a of the spring holding pin 30. The adjusting screw 3| is in screw threaded engagement with the threaded bore of the bracket 3|c so that axial'adjustment of the spring is effected by turning the adjusting screw and the connection of the spring with pin 30 will assure that this pin will not turn with the rotation of the screw 3| by any slight frictional contact. The design is such therefore that the adjusting screw may be turned without-turning the spring circumferentially. A lock nut 32 is preferably provided to lock the adjusting screw in any desired position. The movement of the lever 21 is transferred to a butterfly valve (not shown) connected by suitable linkage adjustably in any of the plurality of the orifices 33 provided ,in the end of lever 21.- The connecting linkage artisans tension as it has an additional deflection ,to "that given it by preloading and, the governor .weights I 4,;in this case, close to'theirouterradial'limit. load 'is' assumed "by'the enginethe weights. l4

revolvewith a lesser' ra diuspf' rotation and the lever 21 "swings clockwise in sn re. Concurrently with this'movement'the spring I! revolves bodily'in the same'arcuate pathbut one oflesser radius. The 'bu'tterflyvalve'is opened tov admit a grea ter quantity of" fuel: to the flen'gine and Ethe movement of the spring clockwise-shortens'the spring and reduces the tension in it.

A salient featureinthis governor is the angulari'ty of theaxis of the spring 28 relative to the longitudinal axis of the lever 21. The angle is an acute angle gf srnall valueand has been carefully and mathematically determined. The commonpractice in governors is to connectsprings at right angles to the links whose .motionthey are restraining. Y Such a setup results in a wide variation of spring opposition'fromno load to f ull load. For example, suppose to stretch the springF/ finch a pull of pounds isrequir'ed, then to-stretch it inch a pulliof fidpounds approximatelyis necessary. This 'is the 'confdition that does mostto destroy thedesirablerprop'erty of ifsochronism; whereas in our invention the elongationof the spring through the full-Harder rotation will be only about /8"i nch in'1.exces,of

the elongation that is constant-and duef to preloading. 'Itis quiteapparent that wherei'there is such a small variation in spring tension beftween the conditions of no load and full load that the governor has high sensitiveness.

This unusual spring assembly provides a means with its possible adjustment and regulation, of making the governor as nearly isochronous as is desired for a practical governor. The angular velocity of the governor shaft 9 for all positions of the governor weights l4 will be almost constant. Then the centrifugal force will depend only on the radius of rotation. To illustrate, let three posit ons of the governor weights be assumed so that the radii of rotation are n, r, and r2 feet with n the radius of the extreme out-position and 12 that of the extreme in-position. Then consider r the radius of any intermediate position. Let C1, C and C2 be the corresponding centrifugal forces.

Then

spring assemblylis correctly "calculated and.

- and by practical:experiment, then. for the-gov;

11693; tnisig'overhor.-when' the aneularityz. A

lished and when; the, Spring possible .to.v attain. by .mathem ernor as invented i R Rz m n-memes purposes. 'This i's the-(requires ment for -a conditiori close :to-perfect isochronism. 'I'li'econdition may be graphically represented by 'ol'otting the centrifugal forces :as ordinates against the radii as abscissae. The characteristic curve for this governor is. nearlyaa straight line and as close to a straight line as is desired. The dep'arture' of our governor characteristics from :a constant the straight line-is 'just sufiicie'nt to eliminate hunting-action. :Thisscondition is principally obtained; as suggested already, by having theangu: larity of the springaxis with respect tojthe axis o'ffithe :l'ever. a definitely predetermined "and cal? culated value.

In the action of, the governor; the weights-.914

in moving outwardrforce the sleeve 2.l:and plate 22 tothe leftand thus .the governorgleverarm 21 is rotated anti-clockwise to close .the: butterfly valve, at the'same time increasing the tensionin the opposing spring 28. But there, is a counter: a'ctingaction takingplace that maybeconsidered as reciprocal to the above described-action. IIZhfi spring tends to pull the 1'everln'mk.Tand .the sleeve will be moved back to the right; if athereis any increase in the load .on the engine, ,An infinitesig mai change ofenginespeed is immediatelvtakeh care ofby the spring action openin ,.-the valve the necessary amount to. ,takecare ofthezincreasegl load. The action is automaticandinstanl eneops. Due to the smallichanges in spring tensiomgven over .the whole range; the, .Changes in :governor speed are infinitesimal and immediately taken care of so that the differential quantity approaches zero for this governor. In governor's with the spring attached at right angles to the governor lever and with large changes in the governor tension, the speed of the governor and therefore the engine has definitely to change an appreciable amount before the governor can open or close the butterfly valve. There is a definite time lag which under a sudden and large increase of load will allow the engine to stall, even though the engine is of sufficient power to carry the load. With our governor, this will not happen and has been proved to be true by the most severe tests.

The invention provides that the governor weights and revolving parts are always in balance in all positions and also that the governor flyweights revolve in a vertical plane so that the efiect of gravity is zero.

The governor has the necessary power which is a feature desirable in governors. This is made possible by the use of an exceptionally strong tension spring, a spring much stiffer than it would be if connected at right angles to the lever whose motion it is restraining, Accordingly, our inven tion provides a governor which is extremely sense tive, but at the same time has the desired power so that itwill not easily be disturbed by outside forces.

It should be noted also that as compared with other governors employing a spring or springs in different relation to the throttle lever, the governor of the present invention substantially eliminates or materially reduces fatigue in the spring which in other designs where the spring is extended to carrying degrees result in substantial fatigue. Therefore the governor of the present invention provides for a much longer life of spring.

Finally it should be apparent that our invention provides a further important feature which is.peculiar to the governor and new in the field of internal combustion engine governors. It is that the governor at starting performs the function of an automatic choke in the feeding of fuel to the engine. Due to the heavy preloading of the governor spring, the throttle valve is full open when the engine is stopped. At the starting of the engine a full charge of fuel is admitted to the cylinders. As the engine gains speed, then the action of the governor weights moves the lever to the left, as in Fig. 1, lengthening the resisting spring and closing the butterfly valve to the predetermined and regulated position for engine idling.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the governor in effect varies from known governors only to a small degree as it includes substantially all the relative parts to perform the governing action necessary, but by changing the principle of control mainly the marked advance above outlined is attained. It will be apparent, therefore, that these markedly improved results may be attained without complicating the governor construction and, therefore, the construction can be produced practicably and economically while providing such improved results. It is apparent, of course, that some changes may be made in the construction and cooperation of parts while maintaining the principle of the assembly.

What we claim-as our invention is:

A governor comprising in combination, a

casing, a governor shaft connectable to an engine, a swingable operating lever pivotally mounted on said casing and means for swingablymoving said lever on its pivotal mounting responsive to the speed of rotation of said shaft, a helical tension spring having its one end connected to said lever adjacent the free end of the latter, and an anchorage assembly extending from said casing adjacent the pivotal mounting ofs'iaid lever to mount the other end of said spring and comprising a bracket extending from said casing, an adjusting screw threaded in said bracket and having an axial bore, a spring holding pin slidably mounted in said bore and including' means for connecting the same to the other end of said spring, means at the other end of said holding pin for retaining the same against axial movement within said screw in the direction of said spring, and a locking nut on said screw for retaining the latter fixed in a position of ad J'ustment.

ROSS W. PHELPS. LEWIS T. RUTLEDGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,910,899 I-Ioof May 23, 1933 1,954,864 Crafts Apr. 17, 1934 1,959,515 Altenberg May 22, 1934 2,107,990 Leibing Feb. 8, 1938 2,170,744 Adler Aug. 22, 1939 2,250,982 Adler July 29, 1941 2,250,983 Adler July 29, 1941 2,250,984 Adler July 29, 1941 2,356,202 Benjamin Aug. 22, 1944 

